Lifting with Spinal Stenosis

[bandit79]

Hi all,
I have been strength training for about 5 years and have been completely injury free until now.
About 3 months into The Texas Method (2nd time through the program in the last ~24 months) I started getting some sciatica in my right leg. Started off as more of just muscle soreness in right calf and right piriformis, but gradually over several weeks turned into sciatica pain.
There was never a single event or moment in time that I can point back to as a single point of injury. Never any "pop" or feeling that something wasn't right. Just kind of started as normal soreness and kept gradually increasing in discomfort.
Until one morning I was in too much pain to get out of the bed and couldn't even walk.
An MRI later shows:
- Severe spinal stenosis at L5
- herniations and both l4 and l5
- Abnormal anatomy with an "L6"

3 epidural cortisone injections and 2 months later, I'm still in some discomfort (2 out of 10 pain scale) but have started working in some higher rep/lower weight barbell squats and deadlifts as part of my PT.

So my question is - once I'm back to 100%, do I just work back up to my normal programming as before? Or are my days of new PRs numbered?

Age: 35
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 210 lbs

Thanks!

[ML67]

I had severe spinal stenosis and it got to the point where I couldn’t be on my feet for more than 10 minutes without having to sit or lean on something. I continued lifting for some time after, this stage but had to bench feet up; eliminate squats altogether and drop weight deadlifting.

My understanding, and people more knowledgeable than me will correct me, but this is a mechanical issue where narrowing of the spinal canal, often from bone spurs/arthritis and ligament thickening (both in my case) and can lead to minor discomfort to more serious neurological issues (numbness, muscle weakness, incontinence, balance issues, etc). When sufficiently severe, surgery may be the only option. In my case, the imaging and symptoms were sufficient for my PCP and 2 neurosurgeons all agreed to forego conservative treatments such as steroid injections, PT and pain management and proceed immediately w/ surgery. In my case it was a 2-level laminectomy and facetectomy (L3 to L5).

I don’t know if you can lift or PT your way out given the mechanical nature of the issue. My late father ended up having the same procedure after going through all the conservative treatment options first.

Here is the post of my experience:

2-Level Laminectomy

Its now almost 11 months since surgery and I’ve been feeling great w/ exception of pain and numbness in my feet which never dissipated. I was aggressive w/ therapy and started lifting very light 1 month after surgery. My back feels great and lifting as much and more in some instances then ever pre-surgery. No limitations.

Good luck.

[bandit79]

Thank you.

Your comment about neurological issues reminds me that I should have mentioned - I do have motor weakness in the right foot, specifically big toe where I can’t really extend the front of my foot off the ground while keeping heel planted

At this point I’m more concerned about that than the pain level